“I like America anyway. In Japan we are much more formal. If two friends are separated for a long time and they meet they bow and bow and bow. They keep bowing without exchanging a word. Here they slap each other on the back and say: Hello, old man, how goes everything.” IfsMenLongTwoAmericaLong TimeJapanOld ManBowsFormalHelloSlapExchangingTwo Friends Author:Sessue Hayakawa
“Food fighters in Japan think of themselves as athletes. They have a higher recognition of the game and are constantly thinking about records. I probably won't continue for long because it puts pressure on the body. But I am at the age where I can perform my best.” ThinkingLongI CanBodyAgeGamesRecordsHigherPressureAthleteFighterRecognitionJapanConstantly Thinking Author:Takeru Kobayashi
“Sitting on the floor of a room in Japan, looking out on a small garden with flowers blooming and dragonflies hovering in space, I suddenly felt as if I had been too long above my boots.” IfsLongFeltSpaceRoomsWonderFlowerSittingGardenJapanBootsBloomingHoveringBlooming FlowerDragonflies Author:Mark Tobey
“The buddha-dharma does not invite us to dabble in abstract notions. Rather, the task it presents us with is to attend to what we actually experience, right in this moment. You don't have to look "over there." You don't have to figure anything out. You don't have to acquire anything. And you don't have to run off to Tibet, or Japan, or anywhere else. You wake up right here. In fact, you can only wake up right here. So you don't have to do the long search, the frantic chase, the painful quest. You're already right where you need to be.” NeedsLooksLongDoeMomentsFactsRunningFiguresBuddhismTasksWake UpNotionPainfulAbstractAcquireJapanInvitesQuestsDharmaFranticTibet Author:Steve Hagen
“It has been believed for a long time in Japan that things such as the constitution can never be changed. I say we should change our constitution now. The U.S. has amended its constitution six times, but Japan has done it zero times.” ShouldLongHas BeensDoneChangedSixLong TimeConstitutionJapanZero Author:Shinzo Abe